A decisive conclusion is necessary

11:33 am - 11/19/2012

A decisive conclusion is necessaryThere is no middle path here – either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip.

Anyone who thinks Hamas is going to beg for a cease-fire, that Operation Pillar of Defense will draw to a close and quiet will reign in the South because we hit targets in the Gaza Strip, needs to think again.

With the elimination of a murderous terrorist and the destruction of Hamas’s long-range missile stockpile, the operation was off to an auspicious start, but what now? This must not be allowed to end as did Operation Cast Lead: We bomb them, they fire missiles at us, and then a cease-fire, followed by “showers” – namely sporadic missile fire and isolated incidents along the fence. Life under such a rain of death is no life at all, and we cannot allow ourselves to become resigned to it.

A strong opening isn’t enough, you also have to know how to finish – and finish decisively. If it isn’t clear whether the ball crossed the goal-line or not, the goal isn’t decisive. The ball needs to hit the net, visible to all. What does a decisive victory sound like? A Tarzan-like cry that lets the entire jungle know in no uncertain terms just who won, and just who was defeated.

To accomplish this, you need to achieve what the other side can’t bear, can’t live with, and our initial bombing campaign isn’t it.

THE DESIRE to prevent harm to innocent civilians in Gaza will ultimately lead to harming the truly innocent: the residents of southern Israel. The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.

The Gaza Strip functions as a state – it has a government and conducts foreign relations, there are schools, medical facilities, there are armed forces and all the other trappings of statehood. We have no territorial conflict with “Gaza State,” and it is not under Israeli siege – it shares a border with Egypt. Despite this, it fires on our citizens without restraint.

Why do our citizens have to live with rocket fire from Gaza while we fight with our hands tied? Why are the citizens of Gaza immune? If the Syrians were to open fire on our towns, would we not attack Damascus? If the Cubans were to fire at Miami, wouldn’t Havana suffer the consequences? That’s what’s called “deterrence” – if you shoot at me, I’ll shoot at you. There is no justification for the State of Gaza being able to shoot at our towns with impunity. We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.

There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a ceasefire.

Were this to happen, the images from Gaza might be unpleasant – but victory would be swift, and the lives of our soldiers and civilians spared.

IF THE government isn’t prepared to go all the way on this, it will mean reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip. Not a few neighborhoods in the suburbs, as with Cast Lead, but the entire Strip, like in Defensive Shield, so that rockets can no longer be fired.

There is no middle path here – either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip. Otherwise there will be no decisive victory. And we’re running out of time – we must achieve victory quickly. The Netanyahu government is on a short international leash. Soon the pressure will start – and a million civilians can’t live under fire for long. This needs to end quickly – with a bang, not a whimper.

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The writer, whom I currently think is evil, is the son of former PM of Israel Ariel Sharon.

He certainly isn't alone in his thinking; according to a HuffPo article: Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai is reported by The Yeshiva World News to have said, "We must blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water." Haaretz also reports that Yishai stated, "The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages."

I don't think Gilad Sharon hold office (I did a quick google search on him, didn't find anything that indicate that he is), but the Netanyahu's Party Likud, I've heard is the conservative party and does better in elections when Israelis believe there's a threat to their security. If true that gives another side to the recent attacks. Was the Netanyahu regime trying to incite violence/fear in order to get re-election in January?

I don't want to use Goodwin's Law here, especially after that last post, but Israel's fucking government is doing some shady ass shit to stay in and show off their power. It makes me rage that the one country that could feasibly tell them to take a time out is the US and we have too many lobbiest on both sides of the aisle that nothing with fucking happen. :(

It's unclear exactly what event began the latest round, but as I understand the consensus has to do with a November 8th shooting of 12 and/or 13 year olds? But if that is the date, isn't it interesting that the Israelis acted essentially less than two days (accounting for time differences) after the US election. I'm not saying that our government knew all the details, or were complicit, but that maybe there was some shady dealing "we know what you might need to do for elections, take the Iron Dome to protect yourself, and don't take any action until after ours."

I mean, ugh...the US is involved in shadiness too, you know? If the US, or some rich people in the US, would benefit from a halt in it's backing of Israel (the US doesn't need to support Palestine, just withdraw unconditional support), then I think the US would act.

Yeah the US is shady as fuq at times...aka a lot. The way my uncle in Spain explained the whole Palestine/Israel fiasco is that Israel will not back down until the US tells them to do so. The Gaza events in 2008 show that. They refuse to listen to the UN/Nato and it's infuriating to see but at the same time the US needs to get their fingers out of a lot of pies because almost everything that they've done since the creation of the CIA has blown up in their faces more often than not.

Yeah, it's really interesting how differently people from other nations discuss the conflict (I feel like conflict is an inadequate...inaccurate word). My friends and family in India, for example, all see it as a human right's issue. But the (Hindu) Indian Americans I know (not my relatives, thankfully) frame it as a Muslim vs. Jew issue (which largely related to the anti-Muslim sentiment bred into Indian Hindus, Indian Hindus who follow organized Hinduism --which I like to call Western-apologetism Hinduism. It's so disgusting.)

Agreed about the US, it's like...OK don't go and defend the disenfranchised, but don't make things worse either! Sometimes I feel that the higher ups in the US (in government, and in the agencies) really need to watch Star Trek and educate themselves about the Prime Directive. I'm not bringing that up to make light of anything, I really do think that that sort of exploration is important.

Yeah, I think power is really addictive, and the people in it care more about keeping than actually doing beneficial work. I wonder how many people started off as honestly wanting to help/make a difference, and just got addicted to power. I have so much respect for the few who seem to have not lost sight.